The Wild Hunt
by Pensierri32
Summary: The modern era distinctly lacked the ambrosia of myth and magic that had flavored the air centuries ago… except, of course, at night, when heart and heat mixed with shadow and wind. S/K
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: (Applicable to the rest of _The Wild Hunt_, Inuyasha Fanfiction by Penny32.) I do NOT own Inuyasha. (Clearly.)

_A story isn't a charcoal sketch, where every stroke lies on the surface to be seen. It's an oil painting, filled with layers that the author must uncover so carefully to show its beauty. _

_-Amelia Atwater-Rhodes_

Chapter 1:

She stood on the steps to one of the few ancient places left in the modern world, took deep, deep breaths of the cooling dusk air. The breeze brought to her the blending of dust motes and light, everything hazing into a gold-tinted world reminiscent of dreams or nightmares. Her raven hair lifted around her shoulders and she straightened, oceanic eyes glimmering with otherworldly power. She watched absently as the light of her magic danced around her, entwining with the breeze and leaves. Watching, she- who was both old and young, was reminded of what she had once been. She was reminded of what she fought to be every second of every day in the year after she had been forced to return to _herself_.

As the breeze died and the sun sank behind the skyscrapers, as the shadows shifted around her and her eyes adjusted to the rising darkness, she strove to find the calm of her soul, to find the girl she had once been.

She tried to forget the young woman she had become. That woman had been transcribed to myth and legend by the world and her opinion made little difference in comparison.

**Author's Note:** So… this story is actually a completed work; therefore, the updates will be weekly! It is also a story that I have come to thoroughly enjoy. The later chapters need to be edited; but, that's usually the case with stuff I'm working on. Tell me what you think, my friends.


	2. Chapter 2

_Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire shall burn_

_The living record of your memory._

_-William Shakespeare_

Chapter 2:

He stood next to the Guardian of the Shrine, remembering when the statues were real, when fangs dripped poison and claws ripped flesh. Curiously, he could scent magic embedded deep, deep within the heart of the carved stone. It was magic so new he could almost taste it; and, in contradiction to the working, it was old magic. On a primal level, he responded to the magic of the ages, of eternity, of _humanity_, magic that had been long forgotten- by most. He, with his immeasurable power, was bound to that magic by blood and honor, his very nature denying him the freedom he had once meted out with vicious, victorious joy.

Oh, to be unleashed was a dream he had never forgotten in the long, long nights of his increasingly unused life. The balance of the world remained maintained by commanded violence. Where were the golden days when the sun shone upon strength and integrity?

He scoffed at his own thoughts.

The gods had placed their collar upon his neck the day they had gifted him with his pack. As he had always been, he was protector and alpha. Gold and silver- the striking ruler of the extraordinary in these times; and, this scent, this magic was most definitely a well-hidden bit of extraordinary. The gods had given him no clue of this strange discovery and none of his had stumbled across it before.

As the scent of spices and smoke drifted away with the breeze, he began the long climb up the shrine steps. Something, or someone would have to satisfy his curiosity.


	3. Chapter 3

_Two paths diverged in a wood and I- I took the one less traveled by._

_-Robert Frost_

Chapter 3:

The golden eyes and shaggy silver hair drifting slowly upwards behind the stairs returned her to the past when sunshine and magic surrounded her like air. In this world where magic was rarely felt, she easily sensed the spell covering his markings from her curious gaze. How was he here, finding her in a world so crowded with humanity that the presence of youkai was blocked out?

Her eyes darkened, narrowed as she caught the lithe grace that eluded his continued lethality. He was still powerful as he had been in the past; but, time had changed him. There was an edge to him, a taste of divinity that hadn't been there before. _What_ was he now?

"Kagome Higurashi, former Priestess of the Shikon no Tama. Greetings." His voice was deeper, huskier than it had been- as if he had roared his soul to the sky and come crashing down to silence when he had no more sound to give. A General unchanged by time.

She cocked her head to the side, hair falling over her shoulder- watching him as she was thoroughly inspected by his otherworldly gaze. "Lord Sesshoumaru, greetings. How has the year treated you?"

"The _centuries_ have given me many tales... none quite so interesting as the one we all shared, priestess." He moved towards her side and glanced around the entryway to the shrine. "Tell me, are you bored?"

"You have no idea." Her eyes lit up with a mocking smile.

The silver-haired male pivoted and looked at the rising moon over the autumn-touched trees, the sounds of the city hushed in this sanctuary. She watched him, wary yet strangely pacified by his presence.

A sudden howling wind sent the leaves swirling around the pair. He looked down at her, power flickering like flames behind the gold of his gaze. Somehow he was unsurprised to see the shadows and magic dancing like flames in her blue eyes. She was as tied to the earth as he was, as any magical creature was. Had he or one of the others not found her, she would have eventually gone mad in this new, immature world.

"The gods have a new task for you, Ms. Higurashi."


	4. Chapter 4

_It never troubles the wolf how many the sheep may be._

_-Virgil_

Chapter 4:

They yipped, growled, bared their fangs and snarled, dripping noxious poison onto the steps of her ancestral shrine. They writhed with the shadows, eyes casting gold and red wraiths into the night air to be freed on the tormented of the world. Their howls struck fear into the hearts of criminals and oath-breakers. They barked around her feet, snuffling closer, dancing away as her hands reached out to allow them to scent her.

"You are the leader of the wild hunt?" Her voice held a shade of awe that she was sure she had gotten over in the past.

He chuckled, bending down and letting his pack greet him in the language of their kind. His eyes flashed a poisonous green, the air sifting with the gold light of his aura. Her breath escaped her at the feel of his magic against her own. "I _am_ the wild hunt. These are my scouts."

She giggled, blue eyes lighting up merrily as one of the huge black dogs licked her face, fangs absent of their scarlet power. "Hello."

He raised an eyebrow at the giggle, letting it go. _She_ would giggle at the Terror of the Night. She was also one of the few humans who had absolutely nothing to fear from him or his pack.

"You will assist me whenever is necessary on my hunts. The scouts will retrieve you when they are ready to lead you to a quarry. You will then call me with this." He placed a band on her head, a sapphire crescent dangling down her forehead by a silver-gold chain. "You are to detain the quarry and see how badly they have erred in their actions."

He stood and his pack went to him, leaving her suddenly bereft in the cold until a small black puppy bounded back to her. He looked from his master to her and began wagging his tail when Sesshoumaru woofed softly in acquiescence.

"Tonight, I hunt alone. I will return for you in three days. Prepare your weapons."

Then, he was gone, the baying of the hounds the only sign they had been there.


	5. Chapter 5

_The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be._

_-Socrates_

Chapter 5:

Her grandfather raised an eyebrow when she walked into the foyer of the house. He chortled when he scented the magic surrounding his granddaughter like a fine perfume. "Found your calling once more, did you?"

She grinned, eyes lighting up merrily. "Yes, grandfather."

Her dark hair and light footsteps faded away as she drifted merrily up the winding staircase of their shrine home. She hummed a song, whimsical and low that made her grandfather chortle once more.

His little Kagome had always been meant for more than the mundane life of a modern aristocrat. They had money enough to last three lifetimes and he, as the sole male head of the family, was more than happy to set aside enough for her to live out the bright magic of her soul.

As it stood, her published tales from the Feudal Era were selling like hot cakes off of the shelves of bookstores- and apparently online as well. She was probably going to double their family treasury in just a few months time with her gift for words.

He wondered what these new adventures would read like once she started writing them down.

He smiled as his daughter placed two tea cups on the teakwood table. "I've always enjoyed good stories."

Listening to the young woman upstairs as she tossed things around her rooms, his daughter couldn't help but smile. "Me too, papa. It seems like the gods have some more planned for us, ne?"

They both laughed when they heard Kagome stumble and curse.


	6. Chapter 6

_To light a candle is to cast a shadow._

_-Ursula K. LeGuin_

Chapter 6:

"You wrote our stories." His voice was soft but startling in the silence of the glen she had found to wait for him. His hounds materialized around him, wraiths among the shadows with eyes that struck fear in the hearts of the unjust.

Gods, she had missed the _feel_ of legends more than anything else. "I needed to immortalize something that meant so much even if, here and now, it is only a story."

He looked at her consideringly in that way animals had, like a predator that saw more of her than she herself was capable of. "Stories are nothing more than dreams and desires that connect souls together across distances as small as steps and as vast as eons."

The ebony-haired young woman hummed in agreement as the pack greeted her. She cuddled one of the puppies while hers- she had named him Orion, curled up by her feet. The alpha male went to sleep with his head on her lap. She looked up at the daiyoukai, surrounded by dogs and with a smile that was beginning to heal. "So, how exactly will this work between us? What if the quarry is a kid and still has a chance to make up for his mistakes?"

Sesshoumaru leaned down until he was nose to nose with her, playful and dangerous all at once. The heat from his proximity made her blood rise and it took thinking about her mother to waylay her quickly wandering thoughts. "The gods do not choose their servants lightly, miko. You will know what to do when the time comes."

He straightened and his countenance was wickedly pleased at the blush she had tried to stymie. "Ai," a female hound the size of a small bear came to his call, shades lighter than her pack mates. She looked silver in the shifting lights of the forest around them and her eyes were more gold than scarlet. "Ai will be your guide. If you need speed, she will carry you. If you need protection, she will claw for you. If you need assistance, she will howl for you. She is Kozu's mate and the two of them are my betas. They will answer to you as they answer to me; but, because they know more about hunting now, learn from them."

The alpha of the scouts blinked and butted his head against her stomach at his name. He yawned before going back to sleep. Kagome was interested to note that he was as black as the darkest part of the night sky, his eyes so deeply red that they looked black too. If a quarry were to face him, they would see nothing but gleaming fangs and a red mouth, a nightmare. "Ai is Orion's mother?"

Sesshoumaru's eyebrow rose at the name she had gifted the puppy he had allowed to stay with her. The other eyebrow rose when the pup came to her call, his previous name clearly forgotten. "Yes, she is. Tomai also gave two puppies this year, one of which enjoys the warmth of your arms."

Suddenly, Kozu and Ai lifted their muzzles to the dusk air and Sesshoumaru cocked his head. Kagome felt the relaxed energy of the pack shift, focus.

It was exhilarating.

Sesshoumaru looked at her before fading into the gathered shadows, leaving her with the hounds of the Wild Hunt. "I have another quarry to hunt this night. Ai will call if you need me. Those," he gestured to the ground by her feet, "are a gift from Athena, one of the Greek gods."

Kagome looked down, absently petting a wriggly puppy and almost dropped him. At her feet lay a beautiful, engraved silver bow and quiver. The arrows were fletched with scarlet and made of ebony wood. The heads were bronze and gleamed golden in the dying sun.

As the baying of the hounds filled the dust motes around her, echoing over the forest and filling unknowing hearts with fear, the former Miko of the Shikon no Tama smiled and got ready for a new adventure.


	7. Chapter 7

_They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night._

_-Edgar Allen Poe_

Chapter 7:

Her hair lay across his forearm like a heavy sheath of night sky as he lifted her gently from the ground, months after their first encounter in the future. Her eyes were closed, black lashes fanning across smooth, tanned skin and hiding her indigo gaze from his sight. The swan's curve of her neck was marred with splatters of dark blood from the cut across her shoulder and back. Her breath was deep, even- as if she was sleeping, her grip on her bow loosening enough for it to drop from her fingers to the earthen floor.

The sound cracked like a gun shot, startling him and bringing his pack out of the shadows where they had stayed to watch his fury cut their quarry open. The fledgling vampire had never even stood a chance, had barely been able to acknowledge the terror he hadn't felt when facing the Mistress of the Wild Hunt. Sesshoumaru's sudden appearance had forced him to think otherwise of the gods he had slighted.

The breeze picked up around them, cool and scented with rain and lightening. The greenery of the forest swayed over their heads, wild and untouched by mankind here on the high slopes of the Carpathian mountains. It was spring and the air should have been scented with the leaves and the opening flowers, the blooming undergrowth and flooding streams.

Instead, it was scented with black magic, a taste of nightmares and memories that had been forbidden by the gods of all the nations long, long ago, prohibiting humanity from murdering itself in cold blood. The creature that had dared to use such magic on his right hand, on their priestess, on _Kagome_, lay in pieces around him, burning in the green glow of his poison, illuminating the rising storm and the shadowed forest with sickly light.

The eerie sound of the Wild Hunt rose around him, singing their victory to Hades and warning him of the vile soul traversing the River Dread to his abode. There were some souls that even the Lord of the Dead chose to imprison cautiously.

Sesshoumaru took a deep breath of the cool air and very, very carefully turned the priestess onto her stomach, trying not to acknowledge the worry zinging unfamiliarly through his veins. The pale golden light of healing laced his hands. Orion whimpered by his side, half-grown now but still floppy-eared and big pawed with a temperament so sweet he knew it was Kagome's doing. Still, the pup was endearing and he let it cuddle close as he focused the threads of his magic into the running blood beneath the scraps of her shirt.

The pack song fell silent as he worked, the shadows and wraiths of the hunt gathering around their master and mistress. Together, they watched the cut close, the bleeding stop, her breath speed up, her eyes flutter open; and, for all of a heartbeat, the Huntsman of the Wild was struck silent.

Her eyes looked like indigo gemstones in the light of the moon, deeper than the sea and more beautiful than any diamond. His breath left him and allowed him to breathe again.

She looked over an ecstatic Orion and at him, vaguely disoriented but clearly aware of what had happened. Her words lifted the corner of his mouth, raised his eyebrow at the slight pride he could detect in her tone. "I _told_ him you would cut him to pieces."


	8. Chapter 8

_Everytime we set aside our pride_

_We take a step closer to the beast._

_Everytime we kill an emotion_

_We take a step away from the beast._

_-Tite Kubo_

Chapter 8:

This night was different, she mused. How, she wasn't quite sure yet; but, the feel of his presence by her side had changed. He had focused on something but she couldn't figure out what or who. He wasn't focused on their prey yet- though, that wasn't what had put her on edge.

After all, he was the ultimate predator. No one could hide from his claws or fangs so a few minutes of waiting never made him tense. In fact it added to the thrill of the chase. His eyes would light up like the sun when he allowed the prey of his hunt the time to think they had escaped him.

Naysayers and ne'er-dogooders beware. The Hound was on the prowl.

Her lips quirked up at the thought, unaware of his perusal of her apparel for the evening. She hadn't been expecting his call that night since she had mentioned her younger brother's graduation party many times before. Still, the black evening gown had a high enough slit up the right that she could move well in it. The back was cut daringly low and barely hid the straps of her scarlet bra- she would have to be careful when she drew her bow or it would peep. Her hair was up and her jewelry wasn't so flashy that it would give away her position in the undergrowth of a forest.

The problem with her attire was in the heels- beautiful-lace-up-her-calves-to-tie-around-her-thi gh-stilettos that had turned many heads to be sure; but, running in them was sure to end in a comedy affair. She should know having been saved from such a fiasco by her magical, dangerous friend.

It was probably a good thing he had intervened when he had or the other male would have ended up in a world of hurt for trying to get too personal with her.

After all, she was only interested in unobtainable males.

Like the one at her side.

"You'll have to do the running today, Sesshoumaru." Her voice, having gone unused for some time, came out husky, sharpened his gaze on her. She blushed, looked away into the starry night and cleared her throat, afraid to see anything resembling her budding desire in his eyes. She needed to stop her heartbreak before it began, really.

She shifted, flashing the smooth skin of her leg tied with strips of black. Her scent- jasmine, magic, purity, _her_, came to him on the breeze and made him want to act out the hidden passion her kohl-lined eyes had flashed at him earlier. The small, tense movements she made at his proximity were intriguing and strangely adorable; but, also unnecessary.

He didn't want to make her nervous- not after having been allowed such a delightful companion after so many years. Kagome was brave, focused, capable, intelligent, kind, compassionate, creative, witty, _beautiful_…

Sesshoumaru swallowed and focused on the other scents of the night- on his quarry.

The Hunt began to materialize around him, a raucous cacophony of yips and snarls that raised the fine hairs on their Mistress' arms with the writhing aura of their vicious nature. His voice was deeper than usual when he spoke and he couldn't have hidden his desire if he had tried. Her eyes were more bewitching than any of the spells he had seen her cast, jewels that ensnared him and almost rooted his feet to the rooftop of the old Heian Castle. Almost.

For tonight, she would remain unclaimed.

"Kozu and Ai will you escort you home, Kagome." She shivered at the sound of her name and he smirked wickedly, making her blush deeper. "Beware of predators this night, _priestess_."


	9. Chapter 9

_She walks in beauty, like the night_

_Of cloudless climes and starry skies_

_And all that's best of dark and bright._

_-George Gordon, Lord Byron (She Walks in Beauty)_

Chapter 9:

They were in the Carpathians again, on the balcony of a castle so old the inhabitants no longer remembered the original owner or architect. The scent of pine and cold surrounded her, mixing with the warmth of the fire behind and the fragrance of the lingonberry tea in her hand.

She sighed happily and pulled the fur throw closer around her shoulders, refusing to go back into the warmth even though she was beginning to freeze and the wind tasted like a snow storm.

The night was just beginning, the gray fading to true black and the view of the mountains ringing the castle would be truly breathtaking soon. She wanted to be surrounded by nothing but stars and shadows.

"_Priestess_, you are beginning to shiver_._" His words preceded his heat at her back, his arms coming around to clasp the railing in front of her.

Silver hair drifted over her shoulder as he bent down, his breath tickling the skin of her cheek. Kagome leaned back into the strength of his body, setting her tea on the rail, tilting her neck in a way she _knew_ distracted him. "Perhaps… Is it the cold or something else?"

He stilled behind her, nose in the crook of her neck, breathing deeply; and, for a moment, neither one of them moved as their small teasing glances, the light touches, were brought into the open. Then, his arms came around her and she was being cradled against his chest.

"_I_ am the reason for your shivers, priestess." He walked back towards the spacious room and flickering firelight, the passion in his eyes stealing her breath, skewing her awareness of the world so that she focused on him. Only him. Like a dear caught in the gaze of a tiger.

He placed her on the edge of the bed, watched the fur fall from the exposed shoulders of her crimson gown like a cream waterfall. His hand lifted, a claw drawn down the line of her neck to the shadowed curve of her chest. His eyes, like amber lit with flame, caught her, made her own glow with heat. She gasped when he tugged on her necklace, pulled her closer and whispered with his mouth over hers.

"You will only ever feel _me_, Kagome." His voice was a deep timbre, deeper than the first time she had heard him, huskier with the quiet and the rising wind behind them. She shivered, eyelashes fluttering down, half-lidded.

When his mouth touched hers, she made a sound- a gasp lost in the rush of the coming storm, the rising scent of pine and cold, of the smoky fire, of him. He was soft and warm, the strength of his shoulders cradling her so gently she felt like glass. When he pressed her down into the mattress, kissed every inch of skin exposed by the zipper of the gown, she sighed and felt the heat go straight between her thighs.

Sesshoumaru groaned as he tasted her desire in the air, slipping his clothes off easily and lifting them both further onto the night-dark covers. His breath left him as he watched her pant from his touch on the cashmere bedspread, her eyes shining, her skin gleaming in the shadows of the fire light.

She looked like silk and sin, everything he could have ever needed and that he had never known he wanted. He hadn't realized when he had found her in the future so long ago that she was his gift from the gods, the answer to the centuries of his loneliness and unwavering service.

His priestess. His Kagome. His beloved, beautiful mate… _The Mistress of the Wild Hunt._

**Author's Notes:** This is quite honestly one of my favorite stories. I loved, loved, loved writing the atmospheric elements. As for the plot, I wanted it to be vaguely telling of their romance, without too much detail. Please let me know if I succeeded!


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